Anchor



June 18, 1946. 's NQRTQN 2,402,202

ANCHOR Filed July 17, 1944 INVENTOR. JOHN S. NORTON.

ATTORNEK Patented June 18, 1946 ANCHOR John S. Nortonfshoemaker,Calif.,'assignor of one-half to Kenyon Spencer, San Francisco,

Calif.

The present invention relates to improvements in anchors, and hasparticular reference to light It is further proposed to provide aparticular shape of fluke of increased grippin power;

Another object of my invention is to arrange the flukes about the shankin such a manner that the anchor automatically gravitates into properposition for cooperative action of two adjacent flukes when the anchoris dragged over the bottom of a body of water.

And finally it is proposed to provide an anchor of the characterdescribed which is light in weight, simple in construction, of greatholding power as compared with its weight, and economical tomanufacture.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will appear as thespecification'proceeds, and the novel features of my lightweight anchorwill be fully defined in the claims attached hereto.

The preferred form of my invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, forming part of this application, in which:

Figure 1 shows a side view of my anchor, with the fiukes in inactive ornested position;

Figure 2, a side view of the same, with fluke-s in active or openposition;

Figure 3, a section taken along line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4, a section taken along line 4-4 of Figure 2, some of the flukesbeing broken away; and

Figure 5, a bottom plan view of the anchor with the flukes in nestedposition.

While I have shown only the preferred form of my invention, I wish tohave it understood that various changes or modifications may be madewithin the scope of the claims hereto attached without departing fromthe spirit of my invention.

Referring to the drawing in detail, my anchor 1 comprises in itsprincipal features, a shank 2, a plurality of flukes 3 pivoted thereto,as at t and a locking member 5 slidable on the shank.

The shank 2 may be in the form of a sleeve or tube having a clasp 6 atits upper end for attach- Application July 17, 1944, Serial No. 545,2864 Claims. (01. 114-208) merit of the chain 1, and having four pairs ofears projecting radially from its bottom end in uniform spacing.

The fiuk'es 3 are very simple in construction, each comprising a pieceof metal made in the form of an angle iron to present two flanges 9 andI0 arranged at a right angle to one another.

These flanges are relatively wide as compared with the length of thefluke, and as shown in the drawing, the combined width of the twoflanges is substantially equal to the length of the flukes.

A longitudinal vane I is attached to the inside of the angle andprojects beyond the inner end thereof, as at l2, to be received betweenthe ears 8 of a pair of ears, and to be pivoted thereto, as at 4. a

This construction allows each of the angles or flukes to swing in aradial plane with respect to the shank, from an active positionillustrated in Figure 2 to an inactive position, as shown in Figure 1.'I'he outward swing is limited by the extreme end of the vane bearing onthe shank. The vanes are tapered from the inner toward the other ends ofthe flukes.

In the form illustrated I provide four flukes and four pairs of ears inwhich the flukes are pivoted. The flukes are made of considerable widthso as to slightly overlap, even in fully opened position, as at I4, andare arranged in such a manner that two opposing fiukes may be consideredthe outer flukes and the other pair the inner flukes.

Thus, in folding, the inner fiukes will fold first, and the outer flukeswill fold over the inner flukes, the four fiukes then forming a prismaround the shank, as shown in Figure 3.

This eiiect is obtained by making the vanes of the outer flukes slightlywider than the vanes of the inner flukes, as shown in Figure 5, whichspaces the outer fiukes from the shank slightly more than the innerflukes.

For locking the flukes in either position, I provide the disc 5 which isfree to ride on the shank. When the anchor is opened, the disc dropsdown along the shank. It is formed with two notches it which may be madeto register with two pins ll projecting from the shank a short distanceabove the ears 8.

When the notches register with the pins, the disc is allowed to dropbelow the pins and may be locked against the same by a slight turningmovement. In this position, it bears firmly against the upper edges ofthe vanes and holds the flukes in open position.

To release the disc, it is only necessary to turn a it so as to make thenotches and pins register, whereupon the disc will slide down the shankwhen the anchor is held upside down. At the same time the flukes willautomatically drop into nesting position adjacent the shank.

The operator may then grasp the fluke assembly, turn it over again, andlower the disc upon the assembly, the disc being formed with opposingclips I 8 adapted to engage over opposing outer flukes for holding allthe flukes in nested position.

In operation, when the anchor is dropped in open position, and draggedforward on the ground at the bottom of a body of water, it willautomatically adjust itself to ride on two'adjacent 'flukes. The twolowest corners or points of adjacent flanges will dig into the groundsurface and cause the earth material, such as mud or rocks, to ride upon the flanges until it reaches the outer flanges of the same flukes,which prevent the material from passing over the back edge and .force itback upon the first flanges, acting somewhat like the mold board of aplow.

Thus the material is retained between the four flanges of the .twoflukes land crowdedinto a space which diminishes in cross-section,whereby an extremely strong grip is obtained on the bottom surface. Anyforward drag will tend, due to the inclination of the fluke flanges, todeepen the anchorage.

If the anchor is straightened into vertical position for lifting, theflukes will readily discharge the material over their inner ends duringthe lifting operation.

After the anchor has been used, it may be readily folded, upon removalof the disc lock, and may be locked in folded position by re-applyingthe disc look. It thus forms a very compact assembly easily handled andeconomical to store.

I claim:

1. An anchor of the character described com-- prising a shank, aplurality of narrow vanes projecting therefrom radially, and flukessecured upon the vanes and spaced from the shank to provide substantialclearance about the shank, the flukes being trough-shaped and ofsufiicient width to contact around the clearance.

2. An anchor of the character described comprising a shank, a pluralityof narrow vanes projecting therefrom radially, and fiukes secured uponthe vanes and spaced from the shanks to provide substantial clearanceabout the shank, the flukes being trough-shaped and of sumcient width tocontact around the clearance, and the length of the flukes beingsubstantially commensurate with the width thereof as measured along thesurface of each fluke.

3.. Ananchor of the character described comprising a shank, a pluralityof narrow vanes projecting therefrom radially, and fiukes secured uponthe vanes and spaced from the shank to provide substantial clearanceabout the shank, the fiukes being trough-shaped and of sufficient widthto contact around the clearance, and the vanes being pivoted forswinging movement in radial planes, whereby the flukes are nested aroundthe shaft when the vanes are swung toward the same.

4. An anchor of the character described comprising a shank, a pluralityof narrow vanes projecting therefrom radially, and fiukes secured uponthe vanes and spaced from the shank to provide substantial clearanceabout the shank, the flukes being trough-shaped, of suificient width tocontact around the clearance and of a length substantially commensuratewith the width thereof as measured along the surface of each fluke, andthe vanes being pivoted for swinging movement in radial planes, wherebthe flukes are nested around the shaft when the vanes are swung towardthe same.

JOHN S. NORTON.

